Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses: A feel good Christmas romance novel (14 page)

Abbey squeezed her eyes shut, the sting returning. Max didn’t eat pinwheels, so she’d be eating those for the next week, and Nick had made so much sausage last night that they’d have to eat her sausage casserole for dinner every night for the next week. Not to mention, if the streets were that bad, how was she going to get home to pack her things properly when she did find her car? Abbey slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

A call lit up on her screen and she answered it quietly so as not to wake Max. She shut the bathroom door. The painters couldn’t come due to the snow and their next availability was three weeks out. That wouldn’t work. She accepted their apologies—it wasn’t their fault—and tiptoed back into the bedroom to look at her decorating timeline. She shook her head. That room had to be painted. It looked awful in all white and if she didn’t paint it, none of the bedding would work. It would look dreary next to that bright white. She thought about calling more painters, but she knew she’d have trouble finding someone in this weather.

When she was finished getting ready, Max was still sleeping. She’d tried a few more painters while she was in the bathroom, and just as she suspected, they either weren’t able to fit her in or they couldn’t get out to do the job because of the snow. Abbey decided that if she wanted it done, she was going to have to do it herself. It would put her behind, but she had no other options. She’d painted before, and she could do a good job, but her hand wasn’t very steady, and she needed to line all the woodwork with tape to keep her paint lines straight. Abbey dug through her handbag for a scrap piece of paper and a pen. She wrote in her simplest words so Max could read them,
I’ll be back. I’m going to find Nick.
She put the paper on the nightstand next to Max, and then headed out to find Nick.

On her way downstairs, she ran into Richard.

“Good morning,” she said. “Do you know where I can find Nick?”

“He’s working.”

“Okay. In his office?”

“He’s asked not to be disturbed.”

“Well, I need my car. Do you know where it is?”

“Ah, yes. We still had your keys so Nick had us pull it into the garage in case the snowstorm hit. Good choice, since it did.”

“How do I get to the garage?”

“Ms. Fuller, I’m so sorry, but there’s no way just yet that we can get your car out. The snow is too high. We have the groundsmen working on it, though. They’ve got the plow up and running.”

She nodded, feeling helpless.

“In the meantime, would you like any breakfast?”

She shook her head.

She knew there was nothing Nick could do about the situation, but she found herself wanting to talk to him anyway. He’d helped her when her car wouldn’t start, and he’d made sure all her food didn’t spoil when she’d lost power. He was good at taking care of her, and she was not only attracted to him, but to his caring nature. She didn’t want to get hurt, but she knew that, inevitably, she would. She decided to leave him to his work.

“I’ll go up and check on Max and we’ll come down to the dining room. Does that sound okay?” she asked Richard.

“I’ll have something ready in about twenty minutes.”

“I need some painter’s tape. Is there any in the house?”

“I’m nearly certain the groundsmen have some. I’ll check for you. Does your son like eggs and bacon?”

“Yes. He likes scrambled eggs.”

“Scrambled eggs it is then.”

“Thank you,” she said. Abbey headed back up the steps and rounded the corner to the room where Max was sleeping. When she peeked in, he was sitting up, looking around.

“Good morning,” she said, walking in.

Max rubbed his eyes, his hair pressed upward in the back.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mmm hmm.” Max was clearly still swimming out of his sleep. He fell back down into the fluffy bedding. “This is the best bed ever,” he said, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Abbey smiled and crawled back up under the covers with him.

“I love it here,” Max said.

She knew why he loved it there. It was the most amazing place he’d ever been. It was the most amazing place
she’d
ever been.

“Are you hungry? They’re making breakfast for us downstairs.”

“Is Nick making breakfast?”

“No,” she said. “He’s working today. Nick has somebody who cooks for him.” Abbey wondered about the elusive cook who’d made her all those wonderful meals. She’d never even met the person before. The staff had all stayed hidden for the most part, and she hadn’t really seen anyone other than Richard since she’d arrived. Was that how Nick wanted them—out of sight?

“Will we get to see him?”

“I don’t think so.” She worried about what Max would do all day if they were stuck there and couldn’t leave. How would she ever entertain him while painting an entire room? She’d have to at least spend some time with him this morning. Perhaps they could play in the snow and then he could help her paint. “How about if, after breakfast, you and I make a snowman—the biggest one we’ve ever made?”

“Yeah!” Max jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to get ready.

T
here had been
no sign of Nick during their breakfast, and Abbey had felt odd having the staff wait on her when she didn’t live there or pay their salaries. To her relief Richard had come in to tell her they had a ton of painter’s tape. When he had, he very kindly brought her the most perfect carrot and two olives on a plate after she’d mentioned making the snowman. “It’s all I could find,” he’d said with a smile.

“We have to pack the snow really well before we start rolling the snowball,” Abbey said, the snow sliding down into her shoes. She hadn’t come prepared to play in the snow, but Max had worn his boots yesterday, so he had them today, and his feet were nice and toasty. That was all that mattered.

“Like this?” he said, holding a very small ball of snow in his hands.

“Yep. Just like that.” Luckily, it was the perfect kind of snow for snowman making. Abbey had made a ball too, and she placed it on the ground and began to roll it, modeling for Max how to do it. They rolled and rolled, her fingers feeling the chill of the snow through her thin gloves. When they finally stopped, they each had quite a snowball. Together, they rolled one more.

“Now how are we gonna get yours on top of mine?” Max asked, laughing at their creations. His cheeks were pink from the cold, and Abbey couldn’t help but think how adorable he looked.

She tried to pick up her snowball. She could hardly get her arms around it, it was so big. She lifted with all her might. It didn’t move.

“It’s too big,” Max said.

Abbey moved around the other side of the ball to see if she could get more leverage. When she did, she saw one of the windows, its yellow light glowing against the white sky and falling snow. She could make out a shadow, and she knew who it was by the build of the man. Nick was sitting at his desk, his head angled downward; he was typing something. Did he know they were right outside his window?

She put her arms around the ball and tried again. It wouldn’t budge.

“You can do it, Mama!” Max cried. He was clapping and jumping, his navy blue cap sliding down over his eyes. He pushed it back with a mittened hand, snowflakes sticking to the yarn of his hat.

“We should get Nick! He could lift it!”

“He’s working. We probably shouldn’t disturb him.”

“But he hasn’t gotten to play in the snow at all.”

Abbey smiled. “I think he was probably up before us. If he’d wanted to, he most likely would’ve played in the snow already before we were even out here.”

“No he wouldn’t.”

Abbey looked down at him. “Why do you think he wouldn’t?”

“He’d be by himself. It’s hard when you’re by yourself,” Max said. “When I’m at Nana’s, I don’t play in the snow very much because no one is out there to play with me. I’ll bet Nick feels like that. We should tell him we want to play with him.”

Abbey felt a stab of sadness for her son. It was tough being an only child. She wanted to be able to fix it, to give him friends nearby and siblings in the house, but she just couldn’t. She felt sad because she knew that it was Max who wanted someone new to play with. That was why he’d suggested calling Nick.

“Can we text him?”

Despite her reservations, Abbey pulled her phone from her back pocket. What would one morning in the snow hurt? She typed:
Max and I are trying to build a snowman, and Max wants you to help build it. Would you like to take a break, by chance? If not, I completely understand. I know you have work to do. But if so, it’s freezing. Dress warm.

Her phone lit up and she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. She read,
Give me two minutes.

“The snowman’s gonna need buttons,” Max said.

“Maybe we could use rocks.”

Max ran off, the enormous grounds nearly swallowing him right up, and searched for rocks. Abbey watched him bend down, dig under the snow until he found one, inspect it, and then throw it on the ground. He did this a few times until she saw him put one in his pocket. When he had three, he returned. But as he neared her, a giant smile broke out on his face and he walked past her. She turned around.

Nick was standing in the snow, wearing some kind of large hiking boots, jeans, a dark coat, and leather gloves. Dangling from his fingers in his gloved hand was a black top hat. She’d only ever seen one in the movies.

“Where did you get that?” she said with a grin.

Max ran up to him and eyed it as he held it up into view. “It was for a costume party,” Nick said as his icy blue eyes met hers. “I thought Mr. Snowman might get cold without it.” He set it on Max’s head.

“We can’t get the snowballs stacked,” Max said, still wearing it over his stocking cap.

Nick looked at the enormous balls of snow. “That’s quite a snowball,” he said.

Max puffed his little chest out in pride.

Nick leaned down and hugged the snowball, bending his knees in anticipation of the weight of it. With relative ease, he lifted it, but it was big enough to block his line of sight so Abbey stepped in.

As he hovered over the other snowball, she said, “Move just a little to the left.”

Nick swayed left.

“No. Too much!”

He moved right.

“Left again. There!”

Nick attempted to set the ball down on top of the other one, but with a small misstep, the snowball teetered precariously, ready to roll back onto the snow and possibly break apart.

“Oh no!” Abbey cried and all three of them put their arms around the ball to keep it from falling. When they finally got it steady, Abbey said, “No one let it go. I’m going to pack snow around the base of it to glue it to the snowball below it.”

Nick and Max held the ball in place and Abbey grabbed a fistful of snow. She packed it against the base of the snowball until it was steady. As she did, she had to duck under Nick’s arms to pack snow on his side. She stole a glance at him, and he was grinning down at her.

“One more to go,” she said.

He lifted the smallest ball and set it on top. They put snow around that one, and Abbey pulled her scarf off and wrapped it around the neck of it. Max added rocks as buttons, still wearing the top hat.

“I can’t reach to do his face,” Max said.

Without even a moment to consider, Nick lifted him up and Abbey had to pull herself together. Max was sitting on Nick’s arm, his little legs dangling down against Nick’s body, as Nick helped him remove his top hat and place it on the snowman. Anyone looking would think the three of them were a perfect little family when things couldn’t be farther from the truth. She caught herself wishing for more time with Nick, and she knew it wasn’t right. What he did with his life was up to him, not her.

Abbey handed them the small plate of olives and a carrot, their surfaces now dusted with light snow. Max pressed them into the face of the snowman and then Nick set him back down.

“Look at our snowman!” Max said. They all took a step back to admire it. It was perfect. “I’m so glad you came out to play, Nick!” Max said running around the snowman. “Let’s play something else!” He bent down and picked up some snow, rounding it in his mittened hands. “Now, you’re in trouble,” he said, his little voice teasing him. “I hope you can run fast.” Max held up a snowball, aimed at Nick.

Nick’s face was swimming with curiosity as he watched Max prepare to throw the snowball. Had Nick ever had a snowball fight? Had he been allowed to run around, chasing his friends outside? There was a
smack!
and Nick’s dark coat had an explosion of snow on the arm of it. Max ran away, giggling and gathering more snow.

Abbey worried for Nick, not wanting to put him in an uncomfortable position, but when she looked up at him, he was smiling. He bent down and picked up a handful of snow. When he did, Max went screaming across the yard in anticipation.

“You can’t get me!” Max yelled.

Nick, with the lightly packed ball of snow in hand, began jogging toward Max, making Max burst into a fit of giggles. Nick cocked his arm back and released the snow as Max dodged it, falling down and scrambling to get back up, laughing in loud bursts. Max had hidden a ball of snow when he’d fallen and he got Nick right in the chest, surprising them both.

Abbey watched them as they threw snow at each other, bobbing and weaving around trees, Nick laughing loudly, his face lit with the thrill of it, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Then, suddenly, he stopped. “You know what?” he called out. Max walked from behind a tree to hear. “We’re leaving your mother out. I’ll bet she wants to play.” Nick turned toward her, his fist full of snow.

“You wouldn’t,” she said, cutting her eyes at him playfully.

His lips were set in a devious grin as he pulled his arm back.

“Run, Mama!” Max said, but Abbey didn’t run.

Instead, she picked up a pile of snow and began to pack it gently in her hands, her eyes on Nick. “You don’t think I’m going down without a fight, do you?” she said, now armed with her own snowball. Nick grinned at her, sending her stomach into a whirl of exhilaration.